


Love in an Elevator

by Anglophile_Rin



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: A Little Light Stalking, Blow Jobs, First Kiss, Flashbacks, Ghosts, Gratuitous making out, Ill-Advised Rolling Papers, Klaus' Cryptic Comments and Dubious Anecdotes, Love Confessions, M/M, Meet the Family, Mentioned Allison Hargreeves, Mentioned Diego Hargreeves, Mentioned Vanya Hargreeves, Modern David "Dave" Katz, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Season/Series 01, Recreational Drug Use, Semi-Public Sex, Substance Abuse, War Veteran David "Dave" Katz, because klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:13:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anglophile_Rin/pseuds/Anglophile_Rin
Summary: Dave glanced up from his phone, but quickly saw he hadn’t arrived at his floor yet. Instead, another man walked in; all flowing limbs and tousled hair with dark glasses on his face. He immediately threw himself against the back wall, tipping his head back and bracing his arms behind him on the handrail.“Hey, uh, what floor?” Dave asked, realizing the man had no intentions of pressing the button himself.“Oh! Right. Uh, 16th, please. Apparently, my sister requires my immediate presence, hangover be damned.”
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 35
Kudos: 115
Collections: EnKlave Fest 2021





	Love in an Elevator

**Author's Note:**

> Submission to the EnKlave Fest 2021 for the prompt:  
> "Klaus and Dave live in the same apartment building. Perhaps this story can be told entirely through conversations they have in the elevator i.e. one trying to flirt with the other who is oblivious, the first time one asks the other out, coming home after their first date, having a fight, making up, getting a bit steamy, meeting the siblings, one of them spontaneously proposing...? Basically, snapshots of their lives told through a series of minute-long elevator rides."
> 
> Also, I tried to fight my impulse on the title (from Aerosmith's song 'Love in an Elevator'), but the EH Discord server enabled me, so blame them.

**_Ding._ **

Dave glanced up from his phone, but quickly saw he hadn’t arrived at his floor yet. Instead, another man walked in; all flowing limbs and tousled hair with dark glasses on his face. He immediately threw himself against the back wall, tipping his head back and bracing his arms behind him on the handrail.

“Hey, uh, what floor?” Dave asked, realizing the man had no intentions of pressing the button himself. 

“Oh! Right. Uh, 16th, please. Apparently, my sister requires my _immediate_ presence, hangover be damned.”

Dave smiled, more to himself than at the man, pressing the button for the 16th floor. He went back to his phone, but kept stealing glances at his fellow passenger. When Dave was hungover, he could barely bring himself to throw on sweats, yet this man had on leather pants - tight to his legs and laced up the sides, probably a hassle and a half to put on - and what looked like some kind of elaborate, military-esque coat with - as far as Dave could tell (not that he was looking, he definitely didn’t shift his stance to try and see better)- nothing else underneath.

When the elevator arrived at the 16th floor, Dave looked over to his neighbour expectantly, but the man didn’t move. Dave couldn’t say for sure whether his eyes were open behind his sunglasses or not. 

“I think this's your stop.” Dave stopped the door from closing all the way with a hand while the man’s head lolled forward until he could look at Dave over the tops of his sunglasses, through the dark curls tumbling over his forehead.

“Ah, so it is. Danke, my dear. Toodles, and all that.” Pushing himself away from the wall, the man swanned out of the elevator the same way he’d entered a minute ago - with a sort of chaotic grace -, the doors closing after him.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Someone was holding the elevator when Dave made it through the lobby doors, so he jogged a little across the lobby, loath to make anyone wait on him.

“Thanks.” He smiled once inside, turning to face the door. He turned back briefly when he realized he recognized the other man - had ridden the elevator with him once before, though he was looking decidedly better this go around.

“Pas de probleme, friend. Which floor?”

“Oh, uh, 18th. Thanks.”

“Lookit you, all de-luxe apartment in the sky.” Dave picked out the teasing (flirting?) in the other man’s voice as he pressed the button and the elevator lurched to life. “Just move in? I don’t think we’ve crossed streams before.”

Dave choked on a laugh and the other man grinned back, obviously pleased with himself.

“Yeah, yeah, a couple weeks ago. We have seen each other before, though.”

“Oh?” 

“Mhmm. If I remember correctly, your sister and a hangover were both involved.”

The man squinted into the middle distance, nodding slowly to himself. “Okay, so I recall Allison making me death crawl to her apartment...but essentially nothing else.” The man twisted his mouth in something half self-deprecating smile, half grimace, turning his gaze to focus on Dave.

His eyes were very, _very_ green. If he'd been a picture, Dave would swear he was photoshopped. He was utterly embarrassed to say that his breath literally caught in his throat.

“I mean, fair.” he managed to choke out, hoping it came across flippant and charming rather than...well, whatever was going on with his brain, currently.

They arrived at the 10th floor, the doors opening, and the man motioned towards them. “Well, see you around.”

Dave gave a little wave as the doors closed.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“Jefferson!” 

Dave furrowed his brow, more bemused than anything else. The leather pants were back today, no sunglasses though. No jacket either. (Dave did his best not to stare.)

“Jefferson?” he repeated, a questioning lilt to his voice.

“Oh, wait, did you not say your name was Jefferson?”

“Not… that I recall, no.”

“Weird. I just got this strong 'Jefferson' vibe.” The man shrugged, already over it. Dave pressed the button for his floor.

“Dave.” Dave offered his hand across the elevator. The man met him halfway, hand turned so Dave had to flip his palm-up to actually shake.

“Klaus.” His hands were soft in a boyish way, and surprisingly cold. Which might have had something to do with the lack of a shirt. 

“Nice to meet you, Klaus.”

“Yeah, same.”

Dave got off on the 18th floor, looking back to see Klaus with his hand raised in a wave. Dave swore he had the words ‘Good Bye’ written on his palm.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus raised a hand in greeting as he entered the elevator just behind Dave.

“Aha! I knew there was writing there!” Dave exclaimed upon reading the 'Hello'.

“That must make things convenient.”

“It does add a touch of sass when I pull out the ole’ talk to the hand.” Klaus demonstrated as he spoke, making Dave laugh, and Klaus performed a movement of his eyes which was probably _supposed_ to be a wink, but ended up as more of an exaggerated blink. It was oddly endearing.

“Tattoos like that must have a story behind them.” 

Klaus gave Dave a considering look, eying him up and down. “Who’s to say I’m not just _incredibly_ lazy?”

Dave laughed. “Are you?”

“Yeah, but that’s not why I got them.” There was a mischievous glint in Klaus’ eyes as he grinned. “Guess.” he challenged. 

“God, I’m awful at guessing. Um, a dare? You seem like you take your dares seriously.”

“Oh, I _do_ , but no, not a dare.”

“Woke up with them, and a hangover?”

“Well, yes, but I was still _mostly_ sober at the tattoo shop.” 

“Were you a really big fan of those Umbrella kids?”

Klaus actually doubled himself over, he was laughing so hard at that one. When he stood back up his face was still scrunched up, eyes squinted closed, his laughter a little musical and a little sour - like playing a minor chord. He was still laughing when they hit his floor, and as he breathlessly raised his ‘Good Bye’ hand to the closing doors.

Dave had no idea what could have incited that reaction, but he couldn’t help but smile the rest of the way to his apartment.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“Oh, hey! You have laundry!”

Dave stepped to the side to let Klaus into the elevator, readjusting his laundry basket on his hip. It was awkward to hold, and it kept slipping - he’d already dumped it all over the floor twice and he hadn’t even hit the laundry room yet. He smiled at Klaus’ greeting - he was starting to get the impression that they were rarely normal.

“I do. The stuff at the bottom of my closet was starting to develop sentience, so I figured it was time to nip that right in the bud.”

“Mmm, yeah.” Klaus nodded solemnly. “Nothing good comes from staying in a closet.”

He did his two-eyed wink at Dave again. Dave tried to keep a straight face as he nodded seriously back.

“So, you know how to do that whole,” Klaus waved his hands around like he was about to perform a magic trick on Dave’s laundry basket, “Thing? With the machines and the liquid soap? Powdered soap? Are they different?”

“Yeah - I mean, I think the liquid and powder ultimately do the same thing, but yeah, I know how to do laundry. Do you...not?” Dave tried to keep back a smile at the absurdity of his own question. Klaus had to be around his age - what 30-year-old had never figured out _laundry_?

Klaus threw his arms out, shrugging big and dramatic. “Hey, you know how it is. You grow up in a mansion with a mom programmed to clean all your shit and a dad who didn’t believe in teaching you about things like ‘taxes’,” he threw air quotes around the word, his tone mocking like it was some absurd conspiracy everyone was in on. “And then you couch surf for a while, live the life of a free-spirited vagabond, time kind of slips away from you. I had a sweet deal going with my sister where she’d come and do my laundry and I’d give her my access to the laundry room, but she moved and her new place has an in-unit machine.” 

“I thought your sister lived upstairs?” was the first thing Dave thought of to say to, well, all of that.

“Different sister. She doesn’t live here.”

“Fair enough.”

“So is powder or liquid better? I gotta say, I have vastly more experience with powder.”

Well, now Dave was confused. “You said you hadn’t done any laundry though?” 

“Sure haven’t!” Klaus’ face looked ready to split with the wide, slightly manic smile painted across it, and he barked out a sharp laugh - entirely different from the belly laughs of the other day. 

The elevator arrived at the laundry room, and Dave gestured to the door. “Well, if you’re not doing anything now, you can come watch me do mine?”

“Wunderbar!” Klaus clapped his hands, delighted and toddler-like. “Lead the way, sensei.”

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“Oh! Uh… Klaus, I don’t think you can actually...smoke in here? I’m actually really surprised the sprinklers haven’t gone off already?” Dave squinted up at the fire safety equipment suspiciously, but couldn’t say whether it was working or not.

“Oh, Klaus, you can’t smoke in my apartment. Oh, Klaus, you can’t smoke in the club. Oh, Klaus, you can’t smoke in a hospital bed.” Klaus threw out his arms imploringly, the joint he was smoking clamped tightly between his lips. “Where _can_ I smoke, David? This is homophobia.”

“It’s really not…” Dave pressed the button for the ground floor, which oddly wasn’t lit up. In fact, no buttons were lit up. He raised his eyebrows, looking towards Klaus, who was glaring at the joint now in his hand. “Did you not push for a floor?”

“Well shit, I thought it was taking an unusually long time. Can you hit 10, too?”

Dave hit the button and turned to the sight of Klaus giving him the biggest doe eyes he had probably ever seen. He offered the joint between them like a smoking olive branch, blinking rapidly. 

“Thanks, but I’ll have to pass.” 

“Oh, sorry, are you,” Klaus leaned in, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, like he was asking if Dave had three weeks to live, “Sober?” he finished with a sympathetic wince.

“No, no, nothing like that. I just can’t smoke anymore." At Klaus' blank stare, he elaborated. "Bullets are really bad for your lung health, it turns out.”

“Oh, fuck.” Klaus hurriedly lifted a foot, stubbing his joint out on the sole of his shoe and waving his hand around, as if dispersing the smoke in a 200 square foot cube was going to make much of a difference. “You should have led with that! Fuck the man and all, but no need to make you keel over to do it.”

Dave laughed at the panic on Klaus’ face. It was sweet. “You’re fine, I think I’ll be okay for the next twenty seconds or so.”

“Okay, well, I mean if you do die, I’ll make it up to you after, yeah?” The doors opened and Klaus left before Dave could ask him what on earth he meant by _that._

“Okay, yeah.” he said, more to himself, as the doors closed again.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Dave was trying not to laugh as Klaus scowled at the new notice taped to the inside of the elevator, on three of the four walls.

**Absolutely NO SMOKING**

“I did tell you that you couldn’t smoke in here.” 

“What, first I’m publicly called out by the _establishment_ , and now you’re going to ‘I told you so’ me? This is a hate crime, Bruté.”

“I’m sorry for your suffering.”

“You should be.”

Klaus sulked the rest of the way to his floor, waving his Good Bye hand as he left. All in all, it was absolutely adorable, and Dave might have a bit of a problem developing.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus was sitting on the floor of the elevator when Dave got on, concentrating on some project he had balanced on one knee. One of the new signs in the elevator had been ripped in half, and it quickly became very apparent that Klaus was using it to roll a joint, his tongue poking out through his teeth in apparent concentration.

“Oh, dude, that’s gotta be so bad for you.” Dave groaned, pressing the button for both his floor and Klaus’.

“It’s the principle of the thing.”

“You’re not actually going to _smoke_ that?”

“I’ll wait until you’re off, don’t worry,” Klaus waved a hand towards Dave in a shooing motion, bits of the pot slipping off the paper and onto the floor as the paper unbalanced. “Shit, okay, here we go.”

Klaus grinned up at Dave a moment later, holding up his prize. 

“I beg of you," Dave actually pressed his hands together in a praying motion, " _please_ don’t smoke that.”

“Relax, David, this is probably one of the least harmful things I have put in my body. You can close that, I’m gonna ride up and down once you get off and flip off the cameras.”

Dave pressed the close button as well as the button for the highest floor. “Do you think those actually work?”

Klaus shrugged. “The principle.”

“Yeah, alright, fair enough.”

“I’m like 89% sure I can’t even die, anyway.”

Dave leveled a look at Klaus, wondering if he was actually serious. Sometimes it was hard to tell. “What, like an ‘I think I’m immortal, so far, so good’ kinda thing?”

Klaus grinned at Dave, the kind of manic, feral one he seemed to pull out more often than not. 

“Mmm, something along those lines.”

Klaus busied himself the next few moments, retwisting the end of his ill-advised smoke and pulling a lighter out of his pants pocket (with no small amount of effort, he definitely favoured tight-fitting pants) (not that Dave was in _any_ way complaining) tapping his feet and fingers in some rhythm known only to him. He tossed off a lazy salute with his lighter when they arrived at Dave’s floor, flicking the flint so it lit up worryingly close to his messy hair.

“Well, Godspeed, I guess.” Dave grimaced as he exited, it turning into a laugh when Klaus called after him, “Fuck the principal, Dave! Wait, n-” 

  
  


**_Ding_.**

  
  


“Tell me you didn’t smoke all of them.” Dave begged, immediately noticing the lack of 'no smoking' notices posted around the elevator that Klaus was already inside of, holding the door open for him.

“Naw, one of the landlords caught me on the way back down from the roof and my sister had to smooth things over with him so I didn’t get evicted.” He shrugged. “She said if I didn’t keep it to my balcony she’d kick my ass.”

“Big sister?” Dave asked knowingly, having a couple of those himself.

“Ummm, kind of a twin kinda situation, thing…” Klaus swayed his head back and forth, squinting his eyes and pursing his lips as he looked for the correct way to define his relationship with his sister. Dave decided that, like most things with his neighbour, it was probably best just to go along with it, so he nodded. He'd worry about it when it became a problem.

“Well, sisters are pretty brutal.”

“God, you have no idea.” He lifted the side of his shirt level with his armpit, pointing to a faint, jagged mark across his ribs. “That one was her. I mean, in her defence Dad told her to, but damn, she did not hold back.” he dropped the shirt, pointing to another faint scar on his elbow. “That one was when I stole her favourite skirt and altered it like, just a little. Oh, and also all of her eyeliners, but the colour looked way better on me, so...” Klaus shrugged as if to say ‘whatcha gonna do?’

“My three older sisters used to hold me down and tickle me until I puked? No scars, though.”

“Hey, that’s valid. Oh! Speaking of sisters, do you think you could show me that laundry stuff again? I tried it, and everything came out kind of smelling like cat piss. And I don’t have a cat, so I have no idea where I went wrong there.”

Dave made a disgusted face, “Well, that’s gross. I doubt that was you, though. Someone else probably _has_ a cat and somehow the smell got into the machine. My dog was sprayed by a skunk when I was a kid and all of our clothes and sheets smelled vaguely like skunk for like, a month. I think my mom had to run bleach through the machine, or something.”

“Huh…” Klaus nodded, looking up as the chime announced his floor.

“I mean...I can still go with you. If you want.” Dave hurried to add before Klaus could leave the elevator. Klaus grinned in return - not the manic, feral one that Dave had grown accustomed to, but something softer, looking legitimately pleased.

“Awesome. Tonight, maybe?”

“Yeah, gimme a couple hours, and I should be good. Like, 8?”

“Perfect. Later, Davey.”

“Yeah. Later.”

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“I just don’t understand how someone who is basically naked half the time goes through so many clothes.”

“I’m not basically naked half the time! I mean, well, not half the time you see me, at least. Maybe a lack of a shirt. But I am almost certain I have always had pants on.”

“Okay, but your torso is half your body, Klaus.” 

“Um, excuse you, I am all leg.” Klaus demonstrated by lifting a leg up to balance on the handrail, sweeping a hand up the length. “I am one-third torso, tops.”

Dave pressed a hand to his forehead, ducking down to partially hide his laugh. (Not the blush he could feel creeping up his neck, nope, not at all.)

“Hey, no, look at my legs, you bastard! Take it back!”

Dave dropped the hand, smirking as he exaggeratedly dragged his gaze from Klaus’ bare foot (his toes were painted a sparkly black and Dave thought that was the most adorable thing he had ever seen) up to his torso. He forced himself not to linger in the...crotchal area any longer than would be considered socially acceptable. Lips pursed, he shrugged.

“Bastard!” Klaus swatted at Dave’s shoulder, nearly upsetting the laundry basket he was carrying.

“Hey! Your clothes’ll need to be washed again if you drop them all over the elevator floor!”

Klaus waved him off. “This is not the dirtiest surface my clothes have ever been on, they’d be fine.”

Dave handed said basket over as the elevator doors opened. “One of these days I’m gonna make you get coffee with me and actually explain all of your cryptic comments.”

Klaus raised his eyebrows in challenge. “Make it gin, and I just might.”

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“I have to warn you, I only drink top shelf.” Klaus told Dave as a greeting, stepping into the elevator Dave was taking down to the lobby.

"Noted." Dave nodded agreeably. 

"No, I'm totally not serious. I spent, what was it? 10? Really? Okay, I spent 10 months drinking bathtub gin made in a toilet. I'll drink anything."

"Well, hey, I've got some rubbing alcohol in my first aid kit…"

"I mean, probably a short date, but I'll try anything once." Klaus shrugged, the corners of his mouth pulling down exaggeratedly. He went to press the button for Dave's floor but Dave swatted his hand away.

"So this is a date, then?" Dave asked after a moment, aiming at nonchalance. He looked at the floor at Klaus' feet, toying with the zipper on his jacket. He risked a glance up, looking through his lashes when he saw Klaus lean back against the wall.

"Well, I dunno, Davey. _You_ asked _me_ , after all."

"Well, I'd be cool if it was. If you were."

Klaus shrugged, 'Hello' and 'Good Bye' held in the air. "I'm easy."

Dave finally raised his head completely, fighting back a smirk. "What, don't have to buy you dinner first?"

"Oh, baby, abso _lutely_ not." Klaus assured, breezing past Dave as the elevator reached the ground floor, leaving Dave behind to catch up.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Dave groped blindly behind him for the elevator buttons, much more concerned with the way Klaus was worrying his lower lip between his teeth. Klaus had two handfuls of the front of his shirt and was pulling him deeper into the elevator until Dave essentially had him pressed up against the wall. It was not a position Dave was remotely upset to find himself in. It took a few minutes after the doors had shut behind them for Dave to pull away a bit and actually attempt to get them to an apartment.

"Mine or yours?" Dave asked against Klaus' mouth, not keen on getting too far. He had both hands buried in Klaus' curls but extricated one as he asked to stroke his knuckles down the ridge of Klaus' cheekbone. Klaus closed his eyes against the petting, visibly suppressing a shudder.

"Mine's closer, but I definitely don't have clean sheets." Dave felt rather than saw Klaus smile. 

"I can work with closer." Dave twisted around, keeping a hand on the back of Klaus' neck, and stretched to reach the button.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus crowded Dave into the elevator, reaching out to press the button for the sixteenth floor before bringing his hand back to join the other in framing Dave's face, using his tongue to map out the inside of Dave's mouth. Dave had managed to convince him to put on sweatpants to see him to the elevator, but that was all (and he did, literally, mean _all_ ) and, frankly, it was very distracting. Klaus was all hot and cold zones, his hands just short of freezing against Dave's face, groin blood hot where it pressed against Dave's, pinning him to the wall. 

Dave tugged the back of Klaus' hair just enough to be able to speak with only one tongue in his mouth. 

"You coming up with me, then?" He asked, a little breathless, a little dazed, raising his eyebrows in question. Klaus darted forward, effectively yanking his own hair and biting Dave's lip with a small moan. Dave wasn't sure if it was for the act of biting or the hair pulling, but he was keen to find out.

"There's no food at my place, and tradition dictates morning after breakfast." 

"Well, can't fuck with tradition." 

Klaus shook his head, solemnly. "Nope. There would be Consequences."

"Sexy Consequences?"

" _Cosmic_ Consequences."

"Well, it's a good thing I have breakfast foods."

"Good thing. Kiss me again."

Dave saw absolutely no reason to deny him.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


"I like that we always end up getting here at about the same time." Dave smiled, knocking his forehead gently into Klaus’ as the doors shut behind them. “We must have the same work schedule.”

“Oh, I don’t work.” Klaus threaded the fingers of both hands through Dave’s, leaving them to dangle loosely at their sides. His eyes were fixed on Dave’s neck and collarbone - probably admiring his own artwork.

“You don’t?” Dave tipped his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at Klaus.

“Nope,” Klaus popped his lips loudly on the ‘p’ with a smile. “My dearly departed papa was _massively_ wealthy, and somehow I was kept in the will, so hooray!” Klaus lifted their hands in a cheer, shaking them a little with a wide smile.

Well then. Klaus _had_ mentioned growing up in a mansion, but like most of what he said, Dave was never entirely sure if it was true. His new boyfriend having money didn't concern him, but a thought did occur to him.

“So, you just happen to get home from whatever it is you do at the same time every day, huh? Same time as me, even.”

“David, I am shocked and appalled that you would accuse me of a little light stalking, and perhaps sitting in the lobby for longer than any apartment resident should need to. Shocked. And. Appalled.”

Dave was grinning now. He couldn’t help but lean forward, to press a quick kiss to Klaus’ lips. “I’m so sorry. How can I ever make it up to you?”

Klaus sighed, the picture of a man unjustly wronged. “Oh, I’ve got an idea...or twelve.”

Dave let Klaus lead him off the elevator at his own floor, one hand each still clasped together, while Dave's free hand was left with the lingering chill.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus was huddled on the floor in the corner of the elevator when Dave got on. He immediately rushed over, dropping to his knees and ducking to try and see Klaus' downturned face.

“Klaus? Sweetness, what’s wrong? Baby? Can you look at me, please?” Dave grazed his fingers lightly over Klaus’ arms, not wanting to grab him. From the little of his face he could see, he could tell his boyfriend’s eyes were squeezed shut. Klaus' skin was pale and clammy, and he had sweat through the armpits of the t-shirt he was wearing. Dave couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he might be moving his mouth, shaping words without any breath or sound that Dave could hear.

Dave had seen more than his share of flashbacks. He’d seen them in the field, in the hospital after he was shot. He saw them growing up with his father and uncle, when he was with his old army buddies, and on the floor of his own room, looking out from the inside of it. He couldn’t say for sure, obviously, but watching Klaus in front of him on the floor definitely didn’t _not_ remind him of all those times.

Dave shuffled forward a little more, until his knees bumped up against Klaus’, resting his hands more fully on his arms, just enough to show he was really there. “Klaus, I think you’re having a flashback, okay? Can you nod if you can hear me?” After a tense moment, Klaus jerked his head once up and down. “That’s good, that’s really good, Klaus. Do you know where you are?” 

It took Klaus a bit longer this time, drawing in shaky breaths, too fast and too shallow, before he spoke, his words low and slurred. 

“Um, elevator? Home, I think.”

“Can you open your eyes? Tell me about the elevator.”

Klaus shook his head this time, squeezing his eyes shut tighter, his face crumpling onto itself like he might burst into tears.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to open them yet. We can wait.” Dave rushed to assure him, running his hands lightly up and down Klaus’ arms. They were freezing - Klaus was always cold, he emanated it out like an aura, but not usually to this point. Dave was wearing a jacket, so he shrugged it off, draping it over Klaus the best he could, wrapping the edges around his knees fairly easily. While he was at it, he shifted positions so he was sitting in front of Klaus rather than crouching, leaning over his own lap to keep hands lightly on him, while also trying not to crowd him too much.

“Is this okay? Do you want me to move?” Another jerky head shake, back and forth this time. “Okay, I’ll stay right here, then.” 

Dave continued to talk to Klaus, making sure to keep his voice low and even, until Klaus finally peeked up at him over his knees.

"Hi, beautiful." Dave tried to smile, but worry made it hard. "How you doing?"

"Well, that was embarrassing." Klaus let out a forced laugh, scrambling to his feet. 

"What? No, no there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Oh, yeah, because it's totally normal, adult behaviour to ball up in the corner when the lights go out." Klaus scowled at the elevator panel, pressing the button for his own floor. "Do you want Chinese? I really feel like Chinese. Oh wait, or maybe Japanese? Which one does those wonton wrappers with the cream cheese and crap?"

"I think the sushi place down the road does them - Klaus, are you okay?"

Klaus made a big production of spinning to face Dave, pasting on a wide smile. If Dave didn't know what it actually looked like when Klaus smiled, he might have actually even bought it.

"Peaches and cream, hot stuff. You can eat sushi, right? It doesn't break any rules?"

“Yeah, some. I just order around it…” What Dave really wanted to do was make Klaus talk to him, be able to actually _help_ and make him feel better, but Klaus pretty clearly wasn’t there yet. So, well, the least Dave could do was order him some sushi.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Dave and Klaus were sitting on the floor, giggling like twelve-year-olds at the _swoop_ that rushed through their stomachs every time the elevator started or stopped. Initially, Klaus had been taking them from the roof to the lobby, and back again, but when Dave suggested lighting up _all_ of the buttons and maximizing the starts and stops, Klaus had taken his face into his hands, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “David, I am going to have your babies.” Before jumping up to run his hands up and down the panel.

(Dave was almost 100% sure that they couldn’t make babies together, but he was just high enough to consider that he might be wrong. If they did, they would have very, _very_ curly hair.)

“Did I tell you about the time I met a Baldwin on an elevator?” Klaus asked in the space between floors.

“Oh yeah? Which one?”

“I want to say...not the one on 30 Rock.”

“I suppose that narrows it down a bit. Did you get an autograph?”

“No… I got laid, though.”

Dave collapsed into a fit of giggles, once again feeling very young and stupid and delighted at the thought of behaving badly.

“In retrospect, I definitely should have gone for the autograph.” Klaus added through his own giggles, only making Dave laugh more. He was still trying to breath through it when they made it back to the lobby and Klaus scrambled up and out, yelling something about Doritos. 

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“Are you sure I look okay?” Dave asked for probably the fifth time since they had left Klaus’ apartment. Klaus rolled his eyes fondly. 

“I mean, I still think you should have worn the jeans I picked out.”

“Yeah, not if you ever want to have sex again. There was nowhere to put _anything_.” Dave shifted his weight restlessly through his hips, remembering how profoundly uncomfortable trying to put Klaus’ jeans on had been. They may be within an inch or two of each other in height, but only one of them could be classed as a twink, and it was certainly not Dave.

“But, really, do I?”

“Dave,” Klaus placed his hands on Dave’s shoulders, shaking him a little, “it’s just my sister. You’re going to be fine.”

“Your sister is a _movie star_.” Dave protested, eyes wide.

“Yeah, and a pain in the ass! And just as irreversibly damaged by our daddy issues as I am. She’s really not all that intimidating. And I told her I’d break into her apartment and steal all of her shoes if she was mean.” Klaus leaned forward and kissed Dave once, then twice, softly on the lips. “I got your back, Katz, c’mon.”

“I should have eaten a gummy before coming…” Dave groaned, still nervous despite Klaus’ assurances. He’d never met _any_ family of anyone he had dated before, much less family that also happened to be a world-famous celebrity. It was daunting, to say the least.

“Hey, I told you _that_ , too.”

“Yeah, but it sounds so much less responsible when _you_ say it.”

Klaus kicked at Dave’s ankle, giving chase as Dave managed to evade, leading to the two of them performing a sort of violent shuffle-hop around the elevator until it stopped at the 16th floor.

Dave deked around Klaus, escaping the elevator first as Klaus chased after him.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“Wait, holy shit, wasn’t Allison Hargreeves in the Umbrella Academy?” Dave was dumbstruck as a niggling factoid in the back of his memory finally made its way to the surface a few days after having (an admittedly successful) dinner with Klaus’ sister.

“Jesus Christ, Dave, I honestly thought you were never gonna get there,” Klaus smirked, leaning against the side wall of the elevator, flipping a joint through his fingers like a coin.

“Klaus! That means _you_ were in the Umbrella Academy? What the shit?”

“God, it’s a good thing you’re pretty, baby.” Klaus was still smirking, but it took on a decidedly fonder tilt as Dave sputtered over his revelation.

“Why didn’t you ever _tell_ me, you dick!” Dave was laughing, now, but still pushed against Klaus’ shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance. Klaus cackled as he righted himself.

“I thought you’d figure it out! You even asked if I was a fan when you saw my tattoos.” Klaus waved said tattoos in the air pointedly, laughing when Dave groaned in realization, covering his face with his hands and slumping against the wall next to Klaus. “By the time I realized you weren’t going to put it together we were already dating, and I honestly just wanted to see how long it was going to take you.” Klaus brandished his arm towards Dave, wrist up this time to showcase the umbrella tattoo Dave had, of course, seen but never made note of. "I mean, I was _literally_ branded, babe. I'm actually kind of embarrassed for you."

“You’re a bad man and I hate you.” Dave said, voice muffled by his hands still over his face.

“No, you don’t!” Klaus sing-songed, bumping into Dave over and over until he dropped his hands. 

“Fine, I don’t. But you’re still a jerk.”

“And you’re still _very_ pretty.” Dave accepted the kiss Klaus dropped on his cheek, but stubbornly pouted the remainder of the elevator ride.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


“I bet if we went all the way up, I could get you off by the time we got to the roof.” Klaus had Dave pressed against the back wall of the elevator, doors closed behind them, but the car stationary for the moment. He trailed his fingers over the sensitive skin just above the waistband of Dave’s jeans while tilting his head to better access Dave’s neck, working in a mark just past the bolt of his jaw.

“We can’t have sex in an _elevator_.” Dave protested (though he still helpfully tipped his head over to give Klaus more room to work. His hips may or may not have been game, as well, pushing forward into Klaus’ hands).

“What, you’ve never?”

Dave hissed a breath in through his teeth as Klaus bit down, slow, even pressure on the mark he was perfecting. He stifled a groan, squeezing his eyes shut. “I don’t think most people have, baby.”

“Well, that just seems unlikely. I’ve had tons of sex in elevators.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Spiders Georg.”

Klaus was dipping the tips of his fingers under Dave’s waistband now, pushing Dave’s face with his own to start on the other side of his neck. “You can tell me to press the button for the roof and get your junk out for me?”

Dave whined, shaking himself in protest, “Klaaaaus, there are cameras!”

“Those are totally fake.”

“No way.”

“You think I haven’t stolen from enough convenience stores to know a fake camera when I see one? And besides, they would have caught me as the Smoking Bandit much sooner if they worked.”

Dave had to concede the point. He also had to concede that the longer Klaus was allowed access to his skin, the harder it was getting to deny him (pun absolutely intended).

“Fuck, you’re such a bad influence…”

Klaus hopped back as he cheered, clapping his hands thrice before going to the panel. He looked back at Dave expectantly with his finger poised over the button for the rooftop entrance.

“You gotta work with me here, David, I’ve got less than three minutes, I can’t be expected to undress you, as well.”

Feeling utterly ridiculous, and utterly aroused, Dave undid his pants, pushing them just far enough down to give Klaus access, but not so far that he couldn't pull them up in a hurry.

As clumsy as Klaus could be, he was downright graceful as he hit the button and spun over and down in front of Dave in a single, fluid movement. Dave was still busy being impressed when there was very suddenly a very hot, very wet mouth all around him, and then Klaus’ face was so close to his stomach that Dave swore he felt Klaus' eyelashes as he blinked back tears.

“Holy fucking-” Dave threw his head back on pure instinct, barely registering when he smacked it (probably painfully, as he was sure he would find out later) against the wall. It wasn’t the first time Klaus had deep throated him - his boyfriend was all too eager to show off all the tricks that he knew, and the skills he had amassed. All of which were both varied and plentiful. _However_ , it _was_ the first time he had gone from zero to sixty, taking Dave down his throat as soon as his lips touched him.

Klaus swallowed, the muscles in his throat squeezing and pulling over the head of Dave’s dick. He slid his tongue along the underside as he did, as much as he could with his mouth full and his lips stretched wide. Dave had to give it to him - the goal was to make Dave come quickly, and he was absolutely well on the way to achieving it.

Dave forced his eyes open to look down as Klaus started to slowly pull back, looking back up at Dave through his eyelashes. When just the tip was left in his mouth he dropped his jaw, gasping in a quick breath of air before circling his tongue around the sensitive head, bobbing up and down to change up the pressure. He added a hand, jacking Dave off into his mouth with hard, quick motions that nearly bordered on painful (the way Dave preferred to do it to himself - something new Klaus had learned in their time together), adding a sharp twist on every upstroke. 

As the pressure that had started deep in his gut when Klaus was still sucking hickeys into his neck rapidly approached the boiling point, Dave compulsively reached a hand down to Klaus's head, burying his fingers in the dark curls on top. Klaus took all of him in once more before moaning deep and low around him, the vibrations of his throat shooting straight through Dave and up his spine. He tightened his hold on Klaus’ hair quickly, a warning, but rather than pull back Klaus started swallowing again. Dave was pretty sure he lost consciousness for a moment as he came - a hand pressed against his own mouth just in case the elevator wasn’t all _that_ soundproof and his vision whiting out under the pressure of his eyes squeezed shut - and Klaus was still swallowing when the initial crash of release subsided, leaving delicious little aftershocks to ping through his nervous system. 

Chest heaving and face hot, Dave ran his fingers through Klaus’ hair as he came down, tapping gently when having his boyfriend’s mouth on him started to veer into the territory of uncomfortably ‘too much’. A glance at the elevator display as Klaus stood up, wiping spit from his reddened lips with the back of his hand, showed that they had made it with two floors to spare. Klaus carefully tucked Dave away, grinning at him as he did up the button and zipper on Dave’s pants.

“Told ya so.” His grin was pure cocky vindication, open and wide, his tongue peeked out and pressing up over his own teeth. He was so fucking beautiful, a god of mischief come to entice Dave into his worship. Dave, of course, went gladly.

“I never doubted you.” He laughed, still breathless, and pulled Klaus in by the back of his neck as the elevator doors opened to the rooftop access. Klaus' mouth tasted salty and bitter, and Dave, giddy, laughed again into the kiss.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus was staring at the floor, laughing softly at something Dave had said. Dave couldn’t even remember what it was, honestly, because as cheesy as it was, looking at Klaus in that moment he was practically bowled over by a rush of pure affection, and it drove everything else from his head. It was like an epiphany moment, when the pieces of some part of you, of some bit of knowledge that has always been there, suddenly all fell into place and it’s just like - _oh_.

Dave was looking at Klaus, and he was simply struck by how _beautiful_ he was, and how _good_ he was, and how much Dave really, _really_ was completely and absolutely in love with him.

Dave must have gone quiet because Klaus was looking back at him, stupidly green puppy eyes wide with concern. “Hey, everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Dave barely breathed the word, lifting a hand to cup the side of Klaus’ face. He stroked his thumb over Klaus’ cheekbone, the ridge familiar and fitted perfectly to his hand (cheesy again, yes, but the guy just realized that he was in love with an enigma, he figured he was allowed to be a little cheesy). “I love you, Klaus.”

Those wide eyes popped fractionally wider as Klaus’ jaw dropped, just a bit, eyes searching Dave’s face as if looking for some hint of a lie, or a joke. He looked a little wary, a little scared, and Dave hated it, so he pressed on. “I’m in love with you.” And slowly, gently, leaving him time and room to back away or say no, Dave guided their mouths together, kissing Klaus softly, hoping to show him that there was no lie, no joke, just Dave, completely in love with him.

Klaus’ eyes were still closed from the kiss when their lips parted, and he tipped forward just enough for their foreheads to rest together. Dave nuzzled his nose against Klaus’ to make him laugh.

“You sure?” he finally asked, just loud enough for Dave to hear.

“Mhmm.” Dave nodded against him, noses brushing again with the movement.

“Crazy bastard.” They both smiled, exhaling silent giggles through their noses. “I love you, too, Dave. I’m _in_ love with you, too.”

“Well thank God for that.” Dave pulled Klaus in again (not that they had far to go), pressing their lips together in another, deeper kiss. Neither realized that the elevator had reached its destination until long after the doors reclosed, and a neighbour from the floor below had called the car down and walked in on them, clearing her throat pointedly.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus squeezed Dave’s fingers reassuringly, and Dave appreciated the effort, he really did, but he remained a far cry from anything approaching reassurance. He tried to convey to his boyfriend, using a complicated system of eyebrow movements, furtive side-glances, and hand squeezes in a clumsy attempt at Morse code, that he was fairly sure that Klaus’ brother hated him on sight, and was absolutely going to murder him. Dave glanced forward again, where said brother was standing with his back to the two of them, watching the numbers on the elevator display go up. He had some sort of leather harness on that was covered in knives (and was that even _legal_? Dave was almost positive it couldn't be…). If Dave remembered the news stories and comics from his childhood accurately, Diego could throw those knives in whatever direction he wanted and they would still twist and turn themselves to bury in Dave's chest, right through his heart. Or maybe his lung - experience told him that was a more drawn out kind of death. And Diego just looked so _angry_.

The rest of Klaus' family had started slowly coming out of the woodwork since they had had dinner with Allison. Dave had spoken to Vanya (of former laundry duty) on the phone, and she'd been perfectly pleasant. He waved awkwardly in Ben's direction any time he saw Klaus talking to the air (once in the middle of the night in Dave's bedroom?? He really hoped the ghost wasn't _always_ there, but he was frankly too nervous to ask), but Klaus' three remaining brothers had yet to surface.

Until now, when Diego called and told Klaus that he was coming over and to make sure that his boyfriend was with him when he got there. 

No one in the elevator had said a word by the time they reached Klaus' floor. Diego led the way, obviously familiar with the apartment building, and Dave gave Klaus one last desperate look before moving to exit the relative safety of the elevator car. Klaus grinned, kissing Dave on the forehead and whispering, "Don't worry, I'll mourn you for at _least_ a week before moving on."

"A month, or I stay in this elevator forever." 

Klaus tugged him forward, still smiling indulgently. "For you, baby? I’ll even make it two.”

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  
  


Dave was with him when it happened, this time.

He had almost forgotten the day, months ago, when he had come into the elevator to find Klaus curled in a corner, terrified of something that Dave couldn’t see. (Well, no, that wasn’t true. Dave didn’t think he’d ever forget seeing Klaus that way, but it at least wasn’t at the front of his mind these days). Klaus never seemed up to talking about it, so he never found out what had triggered it, though soothing his boyfriend through near-nightly nightmares at least gave him an idea of what memories the flashback had replayed. Dave was sure he would have nightmares, too, if he was followed by mangled corpses.

It all came crashing back to the forefront, however, when on the way up to the laundry room the lights flickered once, twice, then went off completely as the elevator shuddered to a stop.

There were a good three minutes of total, pitch-black before the generator’s emergency lights kicked in, lighting the small space up an ethereal red.

And during those three minutes Dave felt - rather than saw- the absence of Klaus standing beside him, only able to place him in the elevator by the muttered litany of, “Fuck, fuck, oh fuck, fuckfuckfuckfuck no no no…” 

He felt his way carefully to where he approximated Klaus to be, luckily thinking to crouch down so he didn’t trip over his boyfriend and accidentally crush him. Klaus was, as Dave had guessed, curled up as small as he could fold his lanky limbs, pressed as deep into the corner as he could get, like he wanted to be covered on all sides, but this was the best he could manage. 

Dave sat on the floor, careful not to touch Klaus without warning (he’d learned that lesson after a particularly bad nightmare and a swollen lip). Instead, he just talked to him.

“Hey sweetheart, it’s just me. I’m here, and you’re here, in our apartment building. The lights went out for a minute, so you’re having a flashback, okay? You’re here, with me, you’re safe.” He repeated variations of this until he saw Klaus glance up at him. “Hi, pretty baby. Can you tell me where we are?”

“Elevator.” Klaus mumbled, covering his face with his hands, his shoulders hunching up to his ears. 

“What do you see?”

“Not fucking much.” Klaus made a sound that was probably an attempt at a laugh but came out more like a whine. “Walls, buttons, red light. You. Oh, shit, I dropped the laundry basket.”

“Don’t worry about that, the clothes were dirty, anyway.”

“Don’t baby me, Dave.” 

Dave held up his hands, placating. “I’m not, it’s just not a big deal.”

“It’s embarrassing, is what it is.” Klaus was definitely coming out of this faster than he had the last time Dave had seen him flash back. Unfortunately, that meant that he was throwing up walls, too. Klaus had a _thing_ about being seen as weak, or useless. (“More Daddy issues.” he’d offered by way of explanation once, rolling his eyes at himself. “I should really be a stripper by now.”) 

"I don't think it's embarrassing."

“No offence, dear, but you’re not the one curled into a ball on the floor because the lights went out.”

“No, but I did have to be dragged out from behind my buddy’s truck because our neighbour set off a firecracker.”

Klaus frowned at the admission, dropping his hands marginally.

“Well, that sucks. Fireworks are awesome.” 

Dave shrugged, dismissive. “Meh, they’re okay. I can think of better ways to spend the fourth of July.”

Klaus let his hands drop fully and tipped to the side so he was leaning against Dave’s arm. “Naked ways?”

“All the best ways are.”

“That’s why I love you, Katz.” Klaus turned his face enough to kiss the sleeve covering Dave’s shoulder, nuzzling his face in. 

“For my body?” Dave asked, clarifying. Klaus nodded solemnly.

“For your body.” he confirmed.

Dave ran his fingers through the curls spilling onto his arm. Klaus’ hair was getting long now - what had been a messy mop when they had started seeing each other was now a riot of tightly coiled ringlets that fell just past his chin. It suited him (not that there was much that didn’t). 

“It was a mausoleum.” Klaus spoke up just as Dave was starting to think he might have fallen asleep. “Small, dark. Full of a bunch of really angry spirits, and one terrified eight-year-old. Then, you know, nine, ten, and so-on-year-old. It was supposed to help me get over being scared of them, you know, exposure therapy or whatever." His jaw ticked, teeth grinding together inside. "I’d like to find whatever shrink thought that one up and kick his ass.”

“I’ll help.” Dave promised, miming a punch.

Klaus smiled into his arm. “I just don’t like the dark. I mean, you know that already." Dave did. His bedroom was lit up with strings of fairy lights and a Cars night light his nephew had left behind when his oldest sister had visited Dave's old place. "But, they’re worse in the dark.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s my imagination, but they seem like they get stronger. And dark plus small space, well…” 

Yeah, well…

“Hey, I ever tell you about the time this one _awful_ ghost wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone, so I got so blasted on ludes that I lost an entire month?”

“It was Ben, wasn’t it.” Dave asked flatly, doing his best to keep his face and voice completely serious. The bit paid off, making Klaus laugh, the sound vaguely echoing in the small space. 

“It _absolutely_ was Ben. The next thing I remember, I was in Cairo, completely naked in one of those, those box things? That they put on camels, sometimes, or sometimes just get a bunch of buff guys to carry them?”

“A litter?”

“Yeah! Anyway, in a litter on the back of a camel, totally nude, with the worst sunburn of my _entire_ life, and I’m like, 80% sure I got married to some kind of eastern European royalty.”

Oh, Dave absolutely loved this man.

“So, what you’re saying is that we can’t get married.”

“Not in Eastern Europe, we can’t.”

“There go my big, romantic plans.”

“Sorry, baby.” Klaus shrugged, his shoulder bumping Dave's arm where he was still leaned up against it.

All in all, it wasn't actually long before the lights came back on and the elevator whirred back to life, continuing up to the laundry room. Dave got up first and helped Klaus stand before shoveling their laundry back into the basket, resting it on his hip. Klaus shuffled over until he could slouch down and tuck his head under Dave’s chin, arms looped around to hang off Dave’s neck. Dave pressed his lips to the top of Klaus’ head.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be good. You still have some of those brownies left?”

“Yeah, a couple.”

“Then I’ll be _fantastic_.”

Klaus showed no signs of releasing Dave when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, so - fully expecting to bite his tongue off if Klaus suddenly straightened below his chin, or he lost his footing and tripped- Dave walked them awkwardly into the laundry room, free hand balanced on Klaus’ hip.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


The walls of the elevator were covered in thick blankets, more blankets taped haphazardly around vaguely rectangular shapes filling nearly all of the occupiable space inside. Dave was squashed into a triangular gap next to the panel and Klaus was across the elevator from him, perched precariously on top of one of the blanket-wrapped blobs, the top of his head brushing the ceiling panels.

“You’re going to break your neck falling off of that.” Dave quirked an eyebrow up at Klaus, whose responding huff caused the entire thing to wobble. “See?”

“I’m banking on discovering I actually have levitation powers.” Klaus shrugged, steadying himself with a hand on the ceiling. A plan foiled when the ceiling tile lifted easily and he lurched forward before catching himself with his other hand below him. “It’s all in the core strength.”

“Well, you _do_ have exceptional core strength.”

Klaus winked (or, well, again…) at him. 

“Do you remember the button we’re supposed to push in this mode?” Dave asked, skimming over the buttons, but none of them seemed to spark the memory of their landlord’s instructions.

“You could just hit them all?” Klaus offered.

“I feel like it was a combination…” Dave mused to himself.

“I don’t think I get reception in here.” Klaus pulled out his phone to try and text the landlord, stretching out to see if sticking his arm out the doors gave him a better signal. He was pretty sure he did see an extra bar before he went tumbling head over heels off of his perch.

Dave spun towards the door after hearing the ‘thump’ and no longer seeing Klaus hovering above him.

“Baby?” He called out tentatively, trying to lean around the stacks in front of him. "You good?"

"I hope you like this apartment, Katz, because I am never fucking moving again." Came the grumbled response from somewhere near the floor. "I think I either broke a rib or a bong...something definitely crunched."

"Does it hurt?" Dave was trying not to laugh, he really was.

"Ummmm…." Klaus seemed far too unsure given the simplicity of the question. Dave tried even harder not to laugh.

"How many pills did you take this morning, baby?"

"I was anticipating muscle aches, so sue me!"

"Alright, well, if you realize in the middle of the night that you broke a bone, you can call Diego to come take you to the hospital."

"Ye of fickle heart! Fairweather boyfriend! Unchivalrous cad!" A stack of boxes shifted worryingly as Klaus used them to push himself back up. His head popped back into view, scanning the interior of the elevator, looking like a curly-haired meerkat. "Maybe we should make more trips…"

"We're not making _any_ trips if we can't get the door closed."

Klaus stared blankly at Dave for a moment before a spark of recognition lit up his face. "Oh! We need to use the key!" Klaus reached down into the front of his shirt and fished out a key hanging from a lanyard around his neck. 

" _Seriously,_ Klaus?" Okay, and Dave had officially lost the battle against laughter, hand over his eyes as he bent over with the force of his giggles. "God, you stoned asshole. Toss it over."

Rather than throw it Klaus picked and climbed his way over boxes and blanket covered furniture, sliding down into the minuscule amount of space left in front of Dave. 

"Oh, hi, soldier." Klaus was - much like the day Dave had first laid eyes on him - all loose limbs, toothy grin, and messy hair, and Dave would have to be an absolute monster not to kiss him. (He also took the key while Klaus was distracted.)

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” Dave reached around Klaus to stick the key in the only keyhole inside the elevator, turning it one way and waiting to see what happened.

“I don’t think it worked.” Klaus stage whispered. 

“I think you might be right.” Dave whispered back. He turned the key the other way and Klaus let out a cheer as the door began to close. 

“Woo! Practically moved in! We could do this professionally.”

“A minute ago you were never leaving our new apartment.”

“People change, David.” Klaus was squirming, now, never great at being confined for long. Dave placed firm hands on his hips, stilling them. 

“We will never get moved in if you keep doing that.” He warned. Klaus rolled his eyes.

“Fine, but when my broken ribs keep me out of commission for the next two weeks, you’ll wish you’d taken advantage of this opportunity.”

“Naw, we’re going to live together, now. Our sex life was gonna die either way.”

Klaus gasped, exaggerated shock painted across his face. “David Joseph Katz, you take that back!”

Dave shook his head solemnly. “I don’t know what to tell you, babe.”

“No, bed death is only lesbians! Daaaaaave, Dave, that’s a lesbian thing!” Klaus poked Dave in the chest as he whined.

“Yes, dear.” 

Klaus pouted all the way to the 19th floor, where their new, bigger apartment was waiting for them to fill it with their things, consolidating their two single bedroom units into one two-bedroom unit. Luckily, Klaus lived like a college student - despite never having been to college- and used milk crates for the majority of his furniture, though he did own more clothing and chotchkies than any one man had any right to. He was currently trying to convince Dave to turn the entire second bedroom into a closet. Dave thought they should keep it as a guest room, but Klaus was worried that might make guests more likely to come stay. He was very attached to sleeping naked, and the bathroom was all the way down the hall.

Dave had to admit to his point - he was pretty attached to Klaus sleeping naked, as well.

Dave turned the key again as they arrived at their new floor and the doors opened. Allison leaned into the elevator, raising an eyebrow at the boys.

“Is there some sort of prize for getting as close as you can to the max weight in this thing or something?”

Dave and Klaus exchanged a glance. Max weight...right…

Allison had to jump back as the boys scrambled to get off of the elevator before it decided to plunge down 19 floors, collapsing in laughter as they tripped into the hallway.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  


Klaus was holding the elevator door when Dave got home from work. Dave shot his boyfriend a bemused look before cupping his face for a kiss. 

“Well, hi baby. Were you out?” he asked, pushing the button for their floor. Klaus shrugged.

“No, not really.”

Dave looked at him again, smiling a bit. Klaus looked back with wide, innocent eyes.

“You know we live together now. You don’t have to stalk me in the elevator anymore.” Dave teased, leaning back against the wall next to Klaus and elbowing him gently.

“Hmm, yeah, but you know, I kind of like it. A little stalking keeps things spicy.”

“Fair enough.”

Klaus reached over and linked their hands together, his fingers pressing cold spots into Dave’s knuckles. 

And when the elevator doors opened, they stepped out together.

  
  


**_Ding._ **

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
